The Weekly Daf #311
Yevamot 62 - 68
Issue # 312 Parshat Mishpatim
Week of 24 - 30 Shevat 5760 / 31 January - 6 February 2000
By Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Dean, Ohr Somayach
Institutions
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The Catalyst's Confirmation
One of the three things which Moshe Rabbeinu did on his own
initiative and was later vindicated by Divine approval was
separating from his wife after the giving of the Torah at Mount
Sinai. His reasoning was that if all Jews were commanded to
separate from their wives in the few days leading up to the Torah-
giving in order to be properly pure for their momentary encounter
with Hashem, then his separation must be an ongoing one since he
was constantly being summoned to unscheduled encounters with
Hashem.
Tosefot points out that the gemara's proof that this was Moshe's
initiative rather than a Divine command is the fact that Aharon and
Miriam became angry with their brother when they learned of the
separation, and spoke critically of his action. (Bamidbar 12:1-2)
Had Moshe been commanded in this separation, they would
certainly not have questioned his behavior.
But if the same Aharon and Miriam were aware of Moshe's
separation, then they were also aware that when Hashem gave
permission to all the Jews to resume family life after the Torah-
giving that He expressed His approval of Moshe's initiative to
make a prolonged separation by stating "But you remain here with
Me" (Devarim 5:27-28). Why then, asks Tosefot, were they upset
by his initiative if it received Divine approval?
The answer, proposes Tosefot, lies in the Talmudic statement
(Mesechta Makkot 10b) that Heaven guides a person along the
path that he has chosen to follow. The catalyst for Divine sanction
of Moshe's prolonged separation from his wife was his choice of a
level of purity which his sister criticized as being beyond the norm
expected of all Jews and at the expense of his wife. The Divine
reaction to this criticism initiated by Miriam was the illness
described in the above cited Torah chapter, which was to serve as a
lesson to all future generations for guarding the tongue.
* Yevamot 62a
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When a White Lie is a Right Lie
Right after the death of their father Yaakov, Yosef's brothers sent
a message to Yosef that before his passing, Yaakov had asked
them to implore Yosef in his name to forgive them for the evil they
had done him. Yaakov, of course, had never made such a request,
and from this, Rabbi Elazar the son of Shimon concludes that one
may divert from the truth in order to maintain peaceful relations.
But indeed, why did Yaakov not anticipate the resentment Yosef
might feel towards his brother and make such a request of him
during his lifetime?
Ramban (Bereishet 45:27) contends that Yaakov never became
aware that Yosef had been sold into captivity by his brothers.
Yaakov always assumed that Yosef had been picked up by slave
dealers while wandering in the fields and sold by them to the
Egyptians. The brothers never told him because of their fear that
he might become outraged and curse them as he did Reuven,
Shimon and Levi for their sins in other matters. Yosef, for his
part, was too moral to divulge such a matter to his father.
Rashi, in his commentary on Chumash, takes a different approach.
Yaakov was aware, but he did not suspect his righteous son Yosef
of harboring feelings of resentment which might lead to a vendetta,
and therefore saw no need for asking him to forgive them. The
question arises, however, as to why the brothers did suspect him
and found it necessary to tell their "white lie?"
Maharsha suggests that the suspicion arose only after the death of
Yaakov, so there was no need for them to seek their father's
intervention while he was alive. The Midrash (Rabbah 100:8)
mentions two things that happened which aroused their suspicion
because they misconstrued Yosef's intentions. One was the fact
that Yosef stopped inviting them to dine with him because he did
not wish to continue the seating arrangement instituted by their
father which placed him ahead of Yehuda the king, who was the
forefather of the kings of the Jewish Nation, and ahead of Reuven
the firstborn. Yet he was also unable to place them ahead of him
because of his royal status in Egypt, and therefore decided to stop
inviting them altogether. Another incident occurred when Yosef
returned from his father's funeral and looked into the pit where his
brothers had placed him. Yosef did this in order to offer a blessing
of thanks to Heaven for his miraculous rescue from death.
Although his motives in both cases were praiseworthy, they
aroused his brothers' suspicions that animosity suppressed in their
father's lifetime had now surfaced, forcing them to lie in order to
keep the peace.
* Yevamot 65b
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Written and Compiled by Rabbi Mendel
Weinbach
General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Eli Ballon
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